Leaked Windows 8 Build Contains App Store Hints

Now that app stores have almost become de rigueur, it isn’t hugely surprising that even the next iteration of Windows is widely anticipated to have one. It also makes perfect sense considering the fact that Windows 8 is being optimized to run on media tablets (even including those powered by ARM chips). While the alleged screenshots of Windows 8’s app store UI that were released a few weeks back eventually turned out to be fakes, some Russian enthusiasts now claim to have uncovered a couple of references to the store in a leaked Windows 8 build.

According to a post on MSWin.me, a handful of references to something called the Windows Store have been found inside the leaked Windows 8 Build 7955 (Pre-M3). Their findings include dedicated folders for the Windows Store licensing client, runtime module and service inside the WinSxS system folder. Our Russian friends also stumbled upon a tiny logo of the store (pictured). However, so far there are no signs of a Windows Store executable file being present in Build 7955.